Cursed? or accepted?
by Rena the pirate jedi wizard
Summary: Naruto doesn't believe people will accept him if they know the truth, so he keeps the Kyuubi a secret. Watch and see what happens when the Toad Sage forces the truth on one special person. Based off of Fruits Basket book six, but understandable to any fan


Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto . . . If I did, Hinata would be Naruto's girlfriend and Gaara would have more screen time . . . but I don't, so it doesn't matter. I also do not own Fruits Basket, which is what I take the plot for this fiction from.

A/N – This fiction was an idea that would not leave me alone for several months. I took book six of Fruits Basket and put Naruto characters into it. It would make the most sense if you, as the reader, had read that book. However, I did my best to make it so that you can understand without it. Just to clear some things up, I made several people know much sooner, Gaara is just randomly in Konoha at the time and…Kyuubi's chakra hurts Naruto a great deal more than it helps him in this version. And Naruto knows Hinata, but not that she likes him; everyone else knows, but that really isn't any different than the real thing. Sorry to all those who hate me for the changes, I just really wanted a scene like this for Hinata and Naruto. If it seems like I am copying anyone else's fan fiction, I apologize, that was not my intent!

Cursed? or accepted?

"Hey, Ero-sennin, why'd ya want me to meet you out here tonight?" Naruto complained slightly as he and Jiraiya stood outside the gates of Konoha.

"Just needed to talk . . . you still hide it very well you know," was the reply.

"What?"

"You know," Jiraiya looked at Naruto with concern, "your pain. I can see it, but you hide it well."

"Hn, I'm just use to it," Naruto said sadly.

"Pretty soon, you're going to have to accept what happened," said Jiraiya cautiously.

"I have accepted it," Naruto replied defiantly, "I accept that it was the only thing the Yondaime could have done, I accept that I must live with this curse for the rest of my life, I accept that very few people in this village are going to accept me until I have proven myself to them and I accept that some of them will never do it."

"Naruto, I know that you have accepted these things, but **you** are going to have to give **other **people a chance to accept it on their own. How can they accept what you refuse to tell them?"

Naruto's eyes hardened ever so slightly, "No, if they knew what was in me-"

"Naruto, it has to happen some time, and you should let it happen on your terms before it happens when you aren't expecting it," Jiraiya was hoping he wasn't going to have to resort to what he had planned, but he was prepared to.

Flashback

"_Excuse me," Jiraiya_ _said, "would you meet me by the gate tonight? I was hoping to speak to you about an important matter regarding Naruto." Jiraiya_ _did not like this, but he knew that she would be the one most open to accepting it._

"_Um . . . y-yes . . . um I sup-pose."_

End Flashback

"No way," protested Naruto, "they wouldn't be able to understand it."

Jiraiya sensed a new presence coming up behind him. "Naruto," he said, "you still will not tell them and let them decide for themselves . . . very well." He faced Naruto with a determined look. "Naruto, it's time. Time for you to stop running from the people you care about. Yes, it will hurt, but it needs to happen! It's time for you to know if any of your fears are needed."

"What're you –"

"Naruto, you leave me no choice! You don't want to risk it, and would rather live in fear. You have found people who know and continue to trust and respect you, yet you push them and others away because of your fear. I will take away your refuge. Naruto," he grabbed Naruto's wrist to keep him from turning away. "Now, learn if you are really as cursed as you think." Naruto's eyes widened as he finally realized what was about to happen. He saw Hinata walk up behind Jiraiya, her eyes showing confusion. This was not what she had been expecting. Naruto could not understand why her of all people, but it was now clear what was about to happen.

Jiraiya drew his hand back and allowed it to be covered in chakra. Naruto's eyes looked in horror as the hand moved forward toward his seal.

"No! Don't –"

Jiraiya lightly punched Naruto's stomach, pumping his seal with chakra. For a single, seemingly drawn out second, the look on Naruto's face was a horrible mixture of anger, disbelief and terror. Then he wrapped his arms around his middle and fell to his knees, screaming in pain.

"Naruto," yelled Hinata in shock, taking a worried step forward. Then she froze as Naruto screamed even louder. It pierced Hinata as if she were the one screaming with pain. It seemed equal to the pain of a stab wound.

Naruto then grabbed his head in his hands and screamed a long, drawn out yell of pain. As he did, Hinata almost thought she heard a sort of howling growl echoing behind it.

As he yelled, orange chakra seemed to ooze from every pour and his skin changed to look like it was severely sunburned. Hinata watched in shock as his fingers developed claws and the chakra continued to engulf him. His screaming stopped, but he was shaking in obvious pain. The grass around him withered, as if near fire. He whimpered again as his head jerked back out of his hands.

Because of this, Hinata was able to watch the chakra cover his face, changing his features as it went. The scars on his cheeks thickened and grew much darker, giving Naruto a feral appearance. His teeth grew sharp and he developed fangs as some became more pronounced and grew longer. And his eyes! For one moment, Hinata saw that flash of bright blue, and then they were a horrifying red that would make grown men tremble.

Naruto started crying, but the moment the tears left his eyes and landed on his cheeks, they evaporated in the heat from the chakra.

Once all these changes had finished, Naruto remained on his knees, still crying fleeting tears. His head was down, his hands were on the ground and he was panting in pain. The chakra was still visible, covering him in a rippling blanket of power.

Hinata took a half step towards him and stuttered, "N-Na-Naruto?" Her voice was almost inaudible, but Naruto jerked his head up as if she had yelled it. He stared at her for a moment. Hinata gasped quietly. He growled, turning his head as if searching for an escape. He saw the tree line, drew chakra too his legs and hands, and bounded toward the woods on all fours.

"Naruto," Hinata yelled, taking a stumbling step in his direction. She wished she hadn't gasped, but she had been unable to help it. It hadn't been the changes in his appearance, not the claws or teeth, not the chakra or thickened scars; it hadn't even been that his eyes were now red with slit like pupils. No, it had been the look in his eyes. They usually only hinted pain behind a carefully constructed and layered facade of cheerfulness, but not now. Now, the pain and fear in his eyes was only too visible and it was mingled with what looked like self-loathing.

She watched him disappear into the trees and tears started coursing down her own cheeks . . . She had never seen anything so sad.

"There, that is what he has always been hiding," said Jiraiya quietly to Hinata. "That is what he has lived with since he was born, always afraid people would find out and reject him." He paused then he continued, "What do you think? Were you scared? Will you now abandon him? Let him run and never come back?"

Hinata jerked toward Jiraiya, fear in her own eyes. Then she stared at the place where Naruto entered the woods at. She gathered chakra to her own legs, and bounded toward that spot. As she entered the trees, she prayed she could catch up.

Jiraiya watched her leave; he then turned to look at the gate behind him. Several people gathered in the opening as he approached it. They were all people who already knew Naruto's secret.

*Sigh* "You know how troublesome it will be if he doesn't come back," Shikamaru said, shaking his head.

"You do realize he may never forgive you if she can't catch him, don't you Jiraiya-san," asked a worried Iruka, still looking at where the two kids had disappeared.

"I'm hoping he'll be mad that I did it, but forgive me soon," Jiraiya replied. "So long as he comes back with at least a little bit more happiness; I'm not worried about how much he hates me for this. I just want him to come back happier."

"But," whispered Konohamaru, "what if Naruto-nii-san doesn't let her catch him? What if he just keeps going and he disappears entirely?"

No one answered, but at the look on Gaara's face, no one wanted to be anywhere near Jiraiya if that was the case.

"If anything happens to him," said Gaara, showing an unusual amount of emotion by actually growling, "if he doesn't come back, or if he comes back as a broken person, I will kill you personally Jiraiya-san."

*****************

"Please, let me catch him," Hinata thought to herself chasing after Naruto. She was able to follow his trail easily. The chakra on his feet left footprint shaped breaks in the branches and it seemed as if he was running on all fours, because there were furrows on the trees where his claws must have grabbed for more powerful pushes forward.

Hinata saw all this through the tears that continued to fill her eyes and streak her cheeks. She just had to catch him, she had to.

Then, a flash of orange, a growling pant, and Hinata burst through some tree top branches and landed in a clearing. There he was.

*****************

Naruto panted, not only from pain, but from exertion. Running with the Kyuubi's chakra surrounding him was exhausting, even if using it let him get farther with each bound. He knelt in a clearing to catch his breath and regain his strength. He still wasn't able to move when he heard someone else enter the clearing. Naruto knew who it was, he could smell her from fifty feet thanks to the fox's chakra, but he didn't look at her.

"Na-Naruto?" she stuttered questioningly.

He flinched, thinking she stuttered from fear. He completely disregarded the fact that she always sounded like that.

"Naru-ruto," she repeated, taking a few steps towards him. She stopped. He had growled at her and she could tell he was trying to get up.

"Go back Hinata," he ordered in his quietly growling voice, still not looking at her.

"B-but, Naruto," she started walking towards him again, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Stay away from me," Naruto ordered and, gathering chakra to his hand, he threw it like a projectile behind him, towards her. It went wide, he hadn't really intended it to get close to her, but she stopped anyway.

"I'm sorry," he said, more quietly, almost gently, "you'll just get hurt . . . I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anyone." He paused, struggling to stand, and then said more harshly, "Now you know, I'm a monster. All I can do is hurt others. I don't need you or anyone else!" He forced himself not to cringe as he said this; he would not let her feel sorry for him or miss him. "I don't want to ever see you or any of the others ever again!"

Hinata felt like the world was falling out from beneath her feet. She started crying in earnest now.

Naruto had to fight with himself when he heard her crying. He desperately wanted to go comfort her, to tell her he was lying and make her tears go away. However, he knew that he couldn't because, if he did, he would only hurt her and the others more. He flinched as the chakra surrounding him flared a little, bringing a fresh wave of pain and tears, which evaporated before they could cool his cheeks.

Hinata turned to leave, not wanting to force her presence on him if he didn't want it.

Naruto continued to kneel in the clearing, completely limp. _"I can't stand this_," he thought savagely, "_the Kyuubi, being hated and alone…but I don't want to know any of my precious people hate me. Now she'll leave and forget me and the others will forget me, but I'll remember her and the small time and happiness she and all my friends gave me."_ His eyes filled again as he prepared to run. He hated running, but it was better to run while he had some good memories than to wait for her to show she hated him.

*****************

Hinata stumbled a few steps from the clearing before she stopped, unable to see through her tears. She had never seen anything so sad, she had never considered the possibility that Naruto could ever show how hurt he was. However, as horrible as it was, Hinata was glad to finally see Naruto's suffering for what it was and understand why he suffered.

"_But wait_," she thought, _"I don't understand. Why does he have to suffer like that? What did he ever do?"_ She really didn't care why he looked the way he did, she wondered, but it was suppressed by worry. She considered how he was acting now and what she knew about him.

Hinata stiffened as what Jiraiya had said when Naruto ran off came back to her.

"_Were you scared? Will you now abandon him? Let him run and never come back?_

Would Naruto really stay away forever? If she left him alone now, would it be the last time she would ever see him? Hinata couldn't believe she had been able to follow him, she didn't think she could do or say anything that would change his mind. _"But_," she thought in a panic, "_I can't just let him go like this, and let him go on believing these things."_ Her tears stopped flowing as a sense of resolve rose in her. She thought back to all those times Naruto's example had helped her. Hinata remembered every word they had ever exchanged and they gave her confidence she had never felt before. She would not let Naruto stay the way he was. Naruto needed to really be the happy person he had always pretended to be, even if afterward he wouldn't want to see her ever again. Hinata knew it would break her heart, but she could never leave Naruto the way he is, for that would break many peoples' spirits.

*****************

Naruto had just started to move and was preparing to stand up when Hinata returned. He was surprised and couldn't say anything until she was only a few feet away.

"What are you doing," he asked, nonplussed. "Why do you keep coming back?"

"Naruto," she spoke without stuttering thanks to her new confidence, "you have to come back. You must come back!" Hinata suddenly move forward, as if to grasp his arm.

"No! Hinata, don't," Naruto tried to move away from her, but she wrapped both her hand around his arm. She was pulling him towards her, desperately trying to keep him from leaving. Unfortunately, he was still covered with the Kyuubi's chakra, and it began to burn her as she held him.

"Please Naruto," she had tears in her eyes again, but she didn't care. "Please, come back. I . . . I couldn't stand it if you didn't."

"Hinata, don't you see what I am?" Naruto tried to wiggle out of her grasp; he didn't want her to get hurt by the Kyuubi's chakra. "Don't you feel what the chakra is doing to you? Don't you understand?!" Naruto practically yelled the last part, frustration evident in his voice.

"No, Naruto, I don't understand," Hinata yelled back, shocking them both. "You never did anything wrong! You never hurt anyone if you could help it. Even your pranks were never mean spirited." She was hurting a good deal now, the chakra had left burns on her hands and the heat was starting to penetrate the sleeves of her jacket, but she plowed on. "Naruto, right now . . . the way you're acting is scaring me. Yes, the way you look now is different, but how much pain you're in scares me more. That's why you can't go! You have to come back. I want YOU to be the one who explains this all to me. I want you to tell me how you feel; why you're afraid and in pain. I'll listen to everything you want to tell me. I don't want you to be alone!" She couldn't see anything now, the pain from the chakra and her tears completely clouding her vision, but she couldn't let Naruto go.

There was a silence for a few minutes, and the tears stopped flowing so heavily. Hinata was relieved when she noticed Naruto had stopped trying to get away. So relieved that she failed to notice when the chakra had stopped burning.

"You . . . you don't have to . . . to do this for me," Naruto said haltingly. "I . . . I never wanted to . . . to hurt anyone, and I never meant for you or any of my precious people to find out." Hinata opened her eyes to look at Naruto, releasing her grip. He was back to normal now; no claws, normal teeth, no orange chakra and his eyes were their normal shade of blue. "If . . . if you're just saying these things cause someone asked you too . . ." Naruto couldn't speak any more, the questioning anguish in his eyes showed his fear.

"Naruto," Hinata winced as she grabbed his sleeve, "please, don't go. If…if you don't want me around like you said, I'll go away, but don't leave. I don't know why you looked like that and I don't know how it happened. I can only guess that whatever it is would be the reason you have been all alone for so long. I don't want to see you alone. You have always been so strong, never giving up and always pretending to be happy, just watching you has always helped me…now I want to help you."

There was a minute of silence; then Hinata blushed scarlet and said "Eep." Naruto had tuned to her and grabbed her hands. Although she had been hanging onto him moments ago, this was different. He was holding her hands!

"Thank you Hinata," Naruto said this with such sincerity and gratefulness that Hinata almost started crying again. She was about to speak, but Naruto cut her off, "It's ok if you were scared, I don't mind. What is in me . . . the Kyuubi sealed inside of me, is something that people should be scared of . . . and if you were scared of how I was acting . . . I'm so sorry, I just didn't want you to hate me." His voice broke as he said, "I never wanted anyone to hate me. And, all I ever wanted was to not be alone." He raised his eyes from their hands, so he could look Hinata straight in the eyes. "Hinata, if you are scared of me, I'll leave you alone, just please forgive me for how much I've made you cry tonight."

Hinata gasped at the thought of him leaving her alone. "No, Naruto," she said quite forcefully, "I said I don't want you to be alone, and I mean it. The thought of how lonely and how much you have been hurt scares me more than anything else tonight. If I can do anything about it, I will. You should never think of yourself as lonely again. I will do anything I can to prevent it. I promise, and I never go back on my word." She smiled as she repeated what he had taught her, "Because that is my nindo, my ninja way."

Naruto stared at Hinata for a second, then began to ask, "Hinata, why do you –" but she cut him off.

"Naruto, I . . . I have al-always admi-ired you." She was blushing again and the stutter had returned, but she had to go on, "I wa-watched you f-for a long time, always im-imp-pressed wh-when you never g-gave up. Yo-you were m-my inspiration and whe-when I f-felt like I cou-couldn't d-do anything more, I wo-would think of you-your example." She blushed some more, creating a new shade of scarlet as Naruto continued to stare at her. Hinata ducked in embarrassment. Then she felt as if someone had decided to grant all her wishes. Naruto hugged Hinata and said, "Thank you." There was more heart felt emotion in those words than Hinata had ever heard in her life.

"How is it that you can make that promise," Naruto asked, "how can you say that, and I can believe you?" Hinata could feel his tears falling onto the top of her head. "Thank you Hinata. I . . . I believe you." Naruto couldn't remember ever being this happy, never, not when he had beaten Neji in the chunin exams or when Jiraiya had trained him. Not even when Iruka-sensei had defended him from Mizuki and he had finally graduated from the ninja academy.

Naruto started, Hinata was hugging him back now, also crying. She buried her face in his chest and the two of them cried silent tears of happiness. They stayed kneeling on the forest floor for a while. Neither one was too worried about how much time had past. However, time did pass and eventually Naruto noticed something change. Hinata seemed to relax her grip around his waist and she seemed to be leaning on him even more.

"Hinata," he questioned. The only response was deep, even breathing. Hinata, worn out from emotional and physical stress, had dropped off to sleep. Naruto eased her down into a more comfortable position, so she was lying on the ground, a small smile adorning her face. She looked happy, even with the streaks her tears had left on her cheeks. Naruto watched her sleep for a moment, and then he realized that the forest was starting to get lighter. They needed to get back to the village soon, or people would begin to worry.

Naruto stood, and then considered what to do with Hinata. He could wake her, but he didn't want to disturb her sleep. He knew he couldn't leave her here, so he wondered if he should carry her. As he was considering if he could do it, he finally noticed the state her arms and hands were in. The fox's chakra had burned her when she had held him to keep him from running. Naruto knew that the chakra had done the same thing to him, but his burns had already healed. As Naruto considered this, he thought he owed it to her to let her sleep.

He knelt and very gently gathered her up in his arms. Although he did his best to keep her arms still, Hinata grimaced slightly as they shifted. Once again, Naruto sent chakra to his legs and started running back to Konoha. It wasn't as fast as jumping from tree to tree, but there would be less bumping.

Just as Naruto started to marvel at how far Hinata and he had actually traveled, Hinata began to stir.

*****************

A rocking sensation, this is what first caused Hinata to feel the pull towards conciseness. This was followed by the feeling of warm, strong arms supporting her; she couldn't tell if she was dreaming or not, the feeling was so wonderful. Hinata wasn't fully awake, but she opened her eyes for an explanation. She saw Naruto smiling at her. It wasn't his usual, huge grin, it was softer, and held more happiness.

Hinata could feel sleep calling to her again and Naruto could see she was still tired.

"Don't worry," he told her, "I'll make sure you get back safe." He was not really sure why he said it; he just felt he needed to. Hinata smiled sleepily, then pressed herself against him and was soon asleep once more.

Naruto slowed to a walk as he saw the trees thinning. He was a little nervous going back, afraid of who might have seen him transform. However, being Naruto, he tried not to think about it and concentrated on not jostling the precious person in his arms.

*****************

If a civilian of Konoha had passed the gate at dawn, they would have seen a strange sight. If a ninja had passed, they would have been worried. One of the visiting nins from Suna had sand curling and orbiting around him. He was glaring a glare that seemed to say that if something didn't happen by a certain time, this would be the last sunrise a certain person would see. Said person, the white haired Toad Sage, was trying and failing to ignore this, while another ninja was trying half-hearted to tell Gaara to not be hasty. And had said civilian or ninja continued watching, they would have seen the middle age academy teacher stiffen and say he heard something coming from the woods.

Here is what all of this meant: Gaara had moved from letting his treat hang in the air to being prepared at a moments notice to place Jiraiya in a sand coffin. Shino, who had arrived about an hour before and had been told what everyone was waiting for, was doing his best to calm Gaara. Unfortunately for Jiraiya, his best was simply to say in a monotone voice, "Don't be hasty, Gaara-san."

Shikamaru had lain down and was pretending to watch the clouds, but even he was worried and listening for someone to return. Konohamaru and Iruka were still standing in the gateway, attempting to use chakra to heighten their sense of hearing. Iruka suddenly stiffened and said, "Listen, is that footsteps?"

At these words, Gaara ceased glaring and returned to what looked like his usual emotionless expression. However, if someone who knew him well were to see him, they would be able to see the worry in his eyes. Shikamaru stood and quickly walked over to the gate. This alone showed how worried he really was. Shino sent several of his bugs out, but he knew he wouldn't have information until after they saw who it was. Jiraiya stayed toward the back of the group, both to stay out of Gaara's line of vision and so he would have a head start to inform Tsunade if Hinata came back alone.

Konohamaru strained his ears, "I only hear one set of foot steps." He sounded worried.

Then, a welcome sight came into view. The gathered nin saw Naruto walk out of the forest. His clothing was ripped where branches had torn them when he ran through the woods and his face was dirt streaked, but he was smiling down at the girl in his arms. Everyone was slightly stunned to see such a tender look on his face. The Naruto looked up and gave his sheepish grin. They could tell that if his arms were free, then his hand would be behind his head.

For a moment, the nin were worried that Hinata had been hurt and knocked unconscious, but that notion was quickly dispelled. She was smiling and huddled up against Naruto, still sleeping.

"I . . . uh, I gotta take her to the hospital," Naruto whispered, shocking everyone again. Not because of what he said, but because no one would have ever guessed he could whisper.

"Of course Naruto," said Iruka, his voice broke slightly from how happy he was. He started walking and Naruto went up beside him, then he paused.

Naruto turned back to the nin still standing there, "I guess you saw all that…and since your still here, I guess you don't care that much about it…thanks." He smiled widely, then he frowned, "Have you guys been here all night?"

The younger nin all glanced at each other (except Gaara) then Shikamaru said, "Yes, and as troublesome as it was, we're just glad you back."

Naruto grinned, and then turned his back on them. He took a few more steps with Iruka, who had paused, when he stopped again. "Ero-sennin," he said without looking at him.

"Kid?"

". . . Thanks."

Gaara returned the sand in his gourd at that and Jiraiya breathed a little easier.

"Just . . . if there's a next time," started Naruto haltingly, "I . . . I would appreciate it if you didn't resort to releasing his chakra." He paused, then continued, "Although, I hope it won't happen again."

"Same here kid, same here," muttered Jiraiya as Naruto walked away. "Same here."

A/N –So, don't hate me for what I have done and for the creative license I have taken with which character knows what. Please review! I accept anything except rude language. At this point, I will even take flames…although if you hate it that much, I must ask that you only review the quality of my writing and not the contents. Thank you!!


End file.
